Main Menu

The Experienced Mr. Hincapie

Experience is something that we can only develop over time. We take it to imply there is some associated wisdom, garnered principally through those experiences that contributed that wisdom through hardship of some kind. As a society, we also refer to this as “learning from our mistakes”; mistakes make a much more convincing guide than does success.

I happen to be a semi-professional mistake-makerer, although I do feel as though I should have much more wisdom in my bones than I demonstrate. It sometimes feels as though all I make are mistakes. One gigantic snowball of mistakes that continues to build on itself with each successive heave down the snowy slope of life. At times, I fully comprehend the mistake as I’m making it, but soldier forth in the misguided hope that it will somehow work out for me despite my imminent failure. Other times, I’ll be certain that I’m right and true, only to discover later my fallacy.

The severity of all this mistake-making is lessened somewhat if one is able to learn from their mistakes and convert it into something resembling wisdom, as I optimistically believe I am. In fact, learning from my many mistakes is perhaps one of my greatest talents; it seems this particular skill helps me forge long-lasting relationships and hold down jobs without getting fired for sucking so much.

George Hincapie and I have in common the fact that we are both “experienced”. But it is in this last respect, that of learning from one’s mistakes, that George Hincapie and I differ, aside from athletic ability and, I’m assuming, body odor. It is for this reason that being his fan necessitates that one be a masochist. Our hopes rise each season and for each classic, yet every time our hopes are crushed as we watch helplessly as he misses the opportunity to win.

Here is a rider of immense talent, not to mention America’s best hope for victory over the stones of Belgium and Northern France. As his career draws to a close, his huge potential remains unfulfilled. With one exception, when the stakes were highest, Big George repeated a chronic string of mistakes. Time and again, he would let the critical move go, look around for others to take initiative as the race exploded ahead, would mysteriously disappear from the front, or simply fall into a ditch.

A rider needs luck to win at the classics, but the most successful riders seem to make their own luck. Hincapie faltered each time victory was within his grasp, yet always found a locus of responsibility that lay outside himself. With the exception of his snapped steerer in the 2006 Roubaix, by and large, his were missed opportunities, with the prefect example being Stage 14 of the 2009 Tour. Hincapie was in a break which was set to place him into the Yellow Jersey when Sergei Ivanov broke free 10 or so kilometers from the line.

The bunch was bearing down on the group, and the gap was dropping quickly. As the gap neared the critical point where George might lose the buffer required to end the day in Yellow, he sat in the group and looked around for another to take up the chase. The bunch continued it’s unstoppable march and, sure enough, Yellow was missed by a scant 5 seconds. Afterwards, a downtrodden and bitter Hincapie blamed the Astana and Garmin teams for chasing too hard and stealing the jersey from him when in reality he squandered his chance by sitting on rather than taking the initiative to chase himself.

The Cobbled Spring Classics are one of the pinacles of our sport, and riders who specialize in these brutal races are few in number. Unless you’re Belgian, most countries boast few riders who are able to ride over the stones and stay in one piece, fewer still manage to arrive at the finish. Rare is the rider who can do so consistently. George Hincapie is the only American rider I can think of who fit this mold, and I’ve always loved him for it. But sadly he’s lacked the je ne sais quoi that would see him outmaneuver, outgun, or outsmart his opponents.

But I never stopped hoping. On the occasions that he arrived at the finish with the scent of victory on the handlebars, the excitement was palpable. Setting foot on the podium did nothing but bolster my belief that he would one day take either the Ronde or Roubaix, and it is sad that there appears to be little hope of seeing him atop the podium as his retirement seems imminent. It would have been glorious to see him atop the podium in Meerbeke or Roubaix, and if he races again next year, I will, against my better judgement, hold high expectations for him. So much for learning from my mistakes.

About frank

A lifelong Velominatus, the history and culture within cycling fascinates Frank and, if given even the vaguest of excuses, will discuss it to exhuastion. A devoted cycling aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it.

@Ron, @Bo, @Cyclops I lived in Charlotte for 6 months and hated it. I actually quit riding; something about combining a general hatred for cyclists with NASCAR fans that made us easy targets. Very, very, very dangerous riding. One ride actually had my rear wheel completely underneath the trailer of a semi before it caught a ridge and righted itself before I literally was killed. Hung up the bike for the remainder of my stay in Charlotte.

Moved to Raleigh and that was better but still a challenge with beltways that were very unfriendly towards cyclists.

Moved to Chapel Hill (actually to Saxapahaw) and loved it. Almost didn’t leave it for Seattle. The riding was spectacular. Made loads of trips out to Boone and Asheville. Awesomeness. Meatcamp road in Boone is a killer.

@Cyclops, Greensboro should be OK. You’re close to the mountains there and I bet the riding is great, though I never got on my bike there. Had a project in Mt. Airy for a few months and I scouted the roads there, they looked fantastic.

Frank – small world, I’m not far from SEXYpaw, as I like to call it. I sometimes do longer rides there and back. It’s starting to see overflow from Chapel Hill. I ride to CH all the time. I could see not wanting to ride in Charlotte; my local NC friends won’t let me go there & even frown upon heading to Raleigh. I wouldn’t want to live in either place, as it might kill my cycling as well.

I plan on finally getting to Boone & Asheville this summer. Been invited before, but haven’t made it yet.

Jeez, Frank, glad you pulled your wheel out! That’s crazy.

Cyclops – not positive, but I think Greensboro should be okay for cycling. The city isn’t so big, must be able to get out of it quickly.

I think George has some custom shoes that he chooses to hide instead of piss off the shoe sponsor.

I was riding with a buddy last week, he was wearing some DeFeet Low Slipstreams. He was doing this to preserve his very expensive shoes. I realized that I could do the same to hide my very inexpensive shoes. The most amazing thing is that I was actually riding with someone else.

@frank You hear the same type of stuff in all the urban centers in the South. City riding in the Southeast sucks rocks pretty much any way you slice it. Drivers are typically oblivious at best or downright homicidal at worst. It’s improving, but we have a long way to go. We have managed to carve out a nice little corner in the mountains and foothills of Northeast GA, Northwest SC, and Western NC, but you have to put some distance between you and the cities and all the bike bowlers.@Cyclops Greensboro should be fine. You’ll be in roller central but with decent access to the western mountains.@Ron Boone and Asheville will change your life.

Knees crossing the centreline?….. what’s WITH that?…. I tried it once and it bloody hurt… crushed a testicle between, well, my leg and the saddle.. and then I think I twisted my knee. WHY do they do it? It’s one of the pro things that I just don’t get… like Spartacus’ phantom aero bars: tried that – bit the road. Frank: bring on the article, I want to know more.

I agree with this… if this is your natural pedal stroke, great. Everyone has slightly different bio-mechanics. But I would argue there is nothing pro about purposely moving your knees above the tube as you pedal if that is not a normal part of your movement.

Interesting comment from Hincapie re: Hamilton (this may be under discussion over on The Rules)

“I know you’ve got a job and you’ve got to ask these questions. I’ve got a job too,” Hincapie told VeloNews at the team’s hotel in Paso Robles, California. “My job’s here to race my bike, promote the sport that we all love; that I’ve sacrificed my whole life for and I just have no interest in dragging this sport through the mud, so I’m sorry, but I have no comment.”

@ramenvelo George is gonna get some shit on his shoes. But Big George is such a stand-up guy that he will come through all this in pretty good shape. His brotherly friendship with Lance is probably not quite what it was, though.

It wasn’t Tyler. It was the threat of perjuring himself in front of a grand jury and seeing the aftermath of the BALCO investigation. Did anyone go to jail for taking PEDs in that $50 million hunt for dopers? I don’t think so. But Marion Jones definitely went to jail for perjury and and Bonds’ trainer went to jail for refusing to cooperate. Won’t somebody think of the children?

@sprider I second @ramenvelo. It’s perjury that gets the American riders to talk. Of course, riders from other countries can be subpoenaed by an American court, lie, then leave and not come back to the U.S. as a means of staying out of jail. American riders have to tell the truth or risk going to jail just like Marion Jones did.

I don’t think there’s a single sane American who will risk jail time to stand up for Lance. Now a business partner (read: sycophant) who’s large income depends on Lance–he might make the choice to lie and risk the consequences.

I think what Big George did will ultimately save the sport, but cycling is going to have a HUGE corporate backing problem for a few years. And any extensive big media coverage by American broadcasters will probably go poof.

I wonder what Trek, Oakley, and Nike will say and do. Oh, and RadioShack. I bet their PR directors won’t get much sleep this weekend.

jail time? really? I don’t ever foresee jailtime for any of these guys. sponsors…well, we still got them….ever since festina et al., so they may not be as easy to buy in, but they will.

now, big George will be the only one i see as of yet that has any validity in telling something that resembles ‘truth’ in the sport. The others have told their story, lied and now have real problems in salvaging that, they are not as believable now…go figure.

As for others cyclists currently riding, telling less than the truth for Lance, its not just Lance that puts pressure on them…sure he is at the center of it, but so is the entire sport. Its that big, its their profession, its everything they have worked for.

BTW, it happens ever freaking june…just before july…and has since the French have had the prom et maillot juane

its a national enquirer mentality that drives this tripe, and its all around us in cycling, everyone else…soccor, baseball, football..all other sports love this in that it deflects the problem of doping from them to us. They then can claim falsely they aren’t as bad as cycling. They can continue to cash in the cow, and cycling will continue to kick itself around.

We may have been a little tough on Big George for his over-use of booties but most of us fans of cycling are fans of George. He was the American who loved the spring classics, especially Paris-Roubaix and now holds the record for Tour de France rides. Chapeau George. Time to get a little fatter and hang out more. I bet it will be a weird transition for someone like him, who has been at this game a long time.

The father of my godchildren is from North Carolina and they will eventually move back there. He always says that when they move back my wife and I have to move with them. We probably will because nothing is really keeping us here, the riding/racing/weather is better in N.C. and the chances of running into Big George out on a ride jump exponentially.

Would love to connect around Paris Mtn. or Lake Lure (Tour DuPont) area whenever you are in NC. George would be spotted on Paris Mtn. (Greenville, SC)

I agree with this… if this is your natural pedal stroke, great. Everyone has slightly different bio-mechanics. But I would argue there is nothing pro about purposely moving your knees above the tube as you pedal if that is not a normal part of your movement.

Knitting your knees over the top tube is most likely losing energy from your pedal stroke. Although I do pull the knee inward on cornering and descending, but never thru the pedal stroke.

@sprider I second @ramenvelo. It’s perjury that gets the American riders to talk. Of course, riders from other countries can be subpoenaed by an American court, lie, then leave and not come back to the U.S. as a means of staying out of jail. American riders have to tell the truth or risk going to jail just like Marion Jones did.

I don’t think there’s a single sane American who will risk jail time to stand up for Lance. Now a business partner (read: sycophant) who’s large income depends on Lance-he might make the choice to lie and risk the consequences.

I think what Big George did will ultimately save the sport, but cycling is going to have a HUGE corporate backing problem for a few years. And any extensive big media coverage by American broadcasters will probably go poof.

I wonder what Trek, Oakley, and Nike will say and do. Oh, and RadioShack. I bet their PR directors won’t get much sleep this weekend.

@Cyclops did Big George mention anything about the rules? He has made comment before hasn’t he?

He called us out on calling him a pussy for wearing overshoes. Actually, his response made me love him even more; he just replied with a picture of himself, drenched in mud, cornering at Paris-Roubaix – wearing shoe covers. He said something to the effect of, “Roubaix, 2001. Are shoe covers acceptable under these circumstances?”

George is a mainstay of this sport; very sad to see him go, but he can walk out with his head held high. Stud, though and through. As Gianni said, we were maybe a bit harsh on him but we were just trying to mask our undying love. We’ve never evolved past elementary school.